And who knows what grave matters may be settled during these conclaves? or perhaps they are only rehearsing gossip, as they have had every possible chance to see what was going on among their neighbors. [Illustration: THE STENTORS.--"VERITABLE TRUMPETS."] Sometimes one settles down alone near a group of others, and seems to proclaim in stentorian voice that it is reception day and he is ready to receive. Or perhaps he is simply a herald as his name indicates, whose business it is to conduct ceremonies and regulate affairs! At any rate, though our ears are too dull to catch the voices of these curious beings of a lower world--so near, and yet in another sense, so far away, it would be difficult to believe that these animated creatures have no means of communication and nothing to communicate. PART II THROUGH A MICROSCOPE BY MARY TREAT IX.--THE UTRICULARIA. It seems strange that innocent-looking plants should capture and kill animals; but this is really what the Bladderworts (_Utricularia_) are all the time doing. They grow in ponds and swamps, some species in deep, still water, others in shallow ponds. Fig. 1 shows a portion of the stem of _Utricularia clandestina_, natural size. The little bladders are so nearly transparent, that on bringing them under the microscope, or even under a good lens, you can see the numerous creatures that they have captured, some partly consumed, others still alive. The bladders on these curious plants remind one of some of the _Entomostracans_ which Mr. Wells described in his fourth paper. Look at _Chydorus sphericus_ for instance, and then at the magnified bladder (_Fig. 2_) in this article. The branched horns at the mouth or entrance have very much the appearance of the antennae of some of the minute animals, and the stem when it is attached to the main branch may be likened to a tail. But the way in which they capture and devour the pretty little creatures that come within their grasp makes them appear, even more than they look, like wicked animals. [Illustration: FIG. 1. PORTION OF A STEM OF UTRICULARIA CLANDESTINA; NATURAL SIZE.] I have found almost every swimming animalculae with which I am acquainted, caught in these vegetable traps; and when caught they never escape. Their entrance is easy enough; there is a sensitive valve at the mouth of the bladder, which, if they touch it, flies open and draws them in as quick as a flash. These downward-opening bladders not only entrap animalculae, but, more wonderful still, the strong larvae of insects. The larvae most frequently caught are those of the mosquito and chironomus. Often the mosquito is caught tail first--the entire body inclosed and the head left sticking out. It always looks as if the victim might walk or wriggle out, but it never does; and you may be sure that it never backed in there of its own accord.